in the conventional manner, traditional heat exchangers comprise thermal elements connected to one another and to one or more external thermal fluid circuits using pipes, connectors, and seals. The connectors are preferably removable to facilitate installation and maintenance operations. This connection technique takes a long time to perform, requires a large number of parts, and makes achieving a tight seal on this type of heat exchanger difficult.
One example is illustrated in Publication WO-A-03/050456 which describes a magneto-caloric heat exchanger comprising twelve gadolinium based thermal elements alternately subjected to a magnetic field generated by a rotating permanent magnet. Each thermal element is provided with a minimum of four orifices, two inlet orifices and two outlet orifices, connected in pairs by conduits and joined to the external “hot” and “cold” circuits by turning seals. Each turning seal comprises seven connections selectively joining the conduits, depending upon the position of the permanent magnet, to the “hot” and “cold” external circuits EC. Thus, this heat exchanger comprises four turning seals per thermal element, either 48 connectors to which seven connections are added for each of the four turning seals, or 28 additional connectors, for a total of 76 connections. This large number of connectors proportionately increases the number of mechanical parts as well as increasing the risk of thermal fluid leaks. Moreover, it imposes considerable technical limitations on the heat exchanger that make it economically impractical. This is, therefore, not a very satisfactory solution.
Another connection technique is illustrated in Publications U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,385 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,468, which provide for the pipes to be replaced by rigid plates integrating the circulation channels for cooling fluid in electronic radiator circuits. In this type of application, the radiator comprises for each electronic circuit an individual plate for absorbing the dissipated calories, connected to a collector plate coupled with a heat exchanger. However, the connection between the different plates and the heat exchanger requires specific rigid or flexible connectors which may or may not include a valve. Thus, this solution does not eliminate the need for connecting parts with their associated disadvantages. Moreover, in this type of application, the cooling circuit is fixed rather than evolving, with its objective being simply the dissipation of calories.